MODESTO, Calif. — A Modesto doctor who was working as an on-call surgeon at the time of his DUI arrest could lose his medical license, according to the Medical Board of California.
According to court documents, Antonio Kobayashi Coirin was arrested by a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer on Sept. 27, 2018, after he was given a sobriety test.
Coirin could lose his license because he was convicted of a crime related to his duties as a surgeon and he used alcohol in a manner that was dangerous to people and impaired him to practice medicine safely.
The CHP officer said he could smell alcohol coming off Coirin and from his car. He also said his eyes were red and watery, and his speech was slurred.
The officer arrested Coirin after giving him an alcohol test, which they said was 0.135% blood alcohol level.
Coirin told the CHP officer he needed to answer a phone call because it was the hospital calling and he wanted to tell them they would need to "call the next on-call surgeon."
Coirin was charged with two misdemeanor violations of driving under the influence with blood alcohol over .08% after he made a plea deal with the Merced County district attorney in 2019.
Coirin cooperated with the medical board's investigation and admitted to driving under the influence in 2019. He reportedly told them that he started drinking that night after getting into an argument with his ex-wife on the phone and hoped it would "help him settle down."
Coirin admitted to the medical board that the phone call he received during his arrest was from a doctor at the Hospital of Manteca regarding a patient. He said he never was under the influence or drank alcohol while working.
